![]() ![]() Indeed, his poems are widely considered to be among ancient Scandinavia’s finest. Nonetheless, even given the sagas’ tendency towards drama and aggrandisement, Egil was a remarkable character.Įgil’s Saga portrays him as a complex man who was prone to violent rage but also capable of great poetic sensitivity. The archetypal warrior-poet, our knowledge of Egil Skallagrimsson and his exploits owes much to legend. Eric, whose real name was in fact Eric Haraldsson, gained his evocative nickname by murdering all but one of his brothers. ![]() He is said to have participated in bloody raids across Europe from the age of 12 and quickly learnt that violence was the most effective way to distinguish yourself in the Viking community. Eric Bloodaxeīorn into the Viking lifestyle, Eric Bloodaxe was one of the many sons of Norway’s first king, Harald Fairhair. He is best known for invading several Anglo-Saxon kingdoms with his two brothers. Indeed, Ivar the Boneless was known to be a Berserker, champion Norse warriors who fought in a trance-like fury. Image Credit: Andreas Bloch, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsĪnother son of Ragnar Lothbrok, Ivar supposedly owes his nickname to a condition that caused his legs to fracture easily, makeing his fearsome reputation all the more impressive. Gunnar meets his future wife Hallgerðr Höskuldsdóttir at the Alþingi He fought and pillaged his way along the coasts of Denmark and Norway and features in the Brennu-Njals saga. Gunnar Hamundarsonįamed for his swordsmanship, Gunnar was, according to most accounts, a truly formidable fighter whose jump could exceed his own height - even when he was wearing full armour. Later, William would write about Bjorns raids down the Iberian coast and into the Mediterranean before his death in Frisia. ![]() William wrote that Bjorn left Denmark with orders from his father, Ragnar Lothbrok, to raid West Francia. The oldest material we have of Bjorn Ironside is in the Norman history of William of Jumièges. Bjorn was the son of Ragnar Lothbrok and was renowned for the raids he led on France, England and along the Mediterranean coastline.ījorn appears in various sources outside of the sagas such as Annales Bertiniani and the Chronicon Fontanellense, they depict him as a dominant Viking leader. This Ironside was a legendary Swedish king who may be familiar to fans of Vikings on the History Channel. No, not the wheelchair-bound detective from the 1970s TV show. In these sagas, which were based on real people and events, Ragnar’s many 9th century raids on Francia and Anglo-Saxon England earn him a legendary status that his nickname, “Shaggy Breeches”, doesn’t exactly convey. Ragnar Lothbrok’s fame was well-established before the television show, however, thanks to the prominent role he plays in the stories written down by the Vikings known as “sagas”. Ragnar LothbrokĪrguably the most famous Viking warrior of them all, not least for his role as the leading protagonist in Vikings, the History Channel’s popular drama. What does Viking even mean? Why did they explode onto the world stage when they do? Are the myths true? What is their legacy? Watch Now 4. Wayne Bartlett comes on the podcast to answer the central questions of the Viking Age. Erik (real name Erik Thorvaldsson) owed his epithet to his violent temperament and flowing red hair. His father, Thorvald Asvaldsson, had previously been exiled from Norway - Erik’s birthplace - for manslaughter, so violence and exile clearly ran in the family. Named Erik the Red due to the colour of his hair, Erik ended up founding Greenland, but that was only after he’d been banished from Iceland for murdering several men. ![]() Erik the RedĮrik the Red, also known as Erik the Great, is a figure who embodies the Vikings’ bloodthirsty reputation more completely than most. But, as our list proves, many of the most famous Vikings were pretty brutal characters. Of course, such characterisations are never wholly accurate, the Vikings weren’t all vicious raiders many came to settle peacefully, trade or explore. Indeed, the word Viking means “a pirate raid” in Old Norse, so it’s fair to say that they were, by definition, a violent bunch. The age of the Vikings is generally considered to have been between 700 AD to 1100, during which time they packed in an impressive amount of raiding and pillaging, developing an unrivalled reputation for bloodthirsty aggression. ![]()
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